A Change I Made for My Health

I’ve aligned with a skincare and cosmetics company that I’m genuinely passionate about, and I’m excited to share all of the details with you.

As you guys know, I’m not really an “absolutes” type of person. I used to try to follow stringent eating and exercise rules, until I realized that life is much happier lived dancing in the grey area, not in solid black or white. This is also when I finally achieved the fitness goals I’d set for myself. Turns out I just needed to relax a little bit. 🙂 It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, and it shouldn’t be if you want to feel balanced.

Even so, I’m always about learning as much as I can about health and fitness, and making smarter choices when I can for myself and my family. It’s not about being “perfect,” but about creating steps for a better, happier, healthier life.

Paying Attention to What Goes in My Body

When I first became pregnant with Liv, I became acutely aware of everything I was putting in and onto my body. I wanted to give her healthy food to thrive (with the necessary cheesecake and pizza in there), and also avoid toxic chemicals whenever possible.

I already read food labels fairly thoroughly, so I started doing this with my skincare and cosmetics while I was pregnant. Some of the things I thought were clean still contained pretty icky ingredients, and I became more interested in seeking out alternate brands and homemade skincare options.

Something I never quite mastered: making my own night cream or facial cleanser. While homemade variations of my favorite products worked fairly well, they never felt luxurious or spa-like. Also, as much as I love DIY beauty, I find that I don’t have as much time to experiment as I used to. A lot of the *natural* or organic brand products I’ve tried in the past don’t work. When you read the bottle you’re like, “YES!” but when you try it at home, you’re like, “Oh noooooo.”

Beauty and Skincare Without Harmful Toxins

Well, my friend Jodi introduced me to Beautycounter a few months ago, and the products and company are pretty amazing. They don’t use any harmful toxins, don’t test on animals, and are lobbying to change the cosmetics industry as a whole. Similar to food, the US uses cosmetics ingredients that are banned in Europe. There are 1,400 chemical ingredients commonly used in US skincare products that are banned in the European Union. We haven’t had a cosmetics reform in 70 years. WHAT. What did they even use for skincare and makeup in the 1930s?!

How’s this for light reading?

The best part: Beautycounter products are amaaaaaaazing. Their ingredients are stellar and the products actually work.

Since using these products, I’ve noticed a huge difference in my sleep-deprived skin, and am excited to support a company that is working to make clean cosmetics and skincare mainstream. Toxic chemicals can disrupt hormones and have been linked to various types of cancers, so if we can get them removed from conventional products, I would be pretty stoked about that. I haven’t been this excited about skincare in a long time.

Researching Personal Care Products

Over the past few months, I’ve been doing more research into the products I have and use at home. I downloaded the EWG Healthy Living app, which includes safety ratings for food, as well as cosmetics/personal care items. I get a kick out of surprising myself while scanning items.

Some of the things I had on hand with great ingredients:

(Also there are some not-so-clean products that I won’t give up and still use occasionally, like nail polish! Like I mentioned before, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.)

Because I love the Beautycounter products so much, I signed up as a consultant to get a discount (25%) and share it with others.

I’m not going to spam you guys or anything like that (I wanted to let you know I’m a consultant for full transparency, but things will always be low-key around here), but just wanted to give you a heads up about these amazing products and the company’s mission. As you guys know, I’m very particular about the brands I choose to promote on the blog, and will only feature products I know, use, and love. If you’d like to check out the shop, the link is here. Also, if you think you may be interested in consulting or would like to host an online social, let me know. I’d be happy to help you out or point you in the right direction.

*For all orders over $55 placed from now until Friday night, I’ll send you a makeup brush bag or sunscreen stick. 🙂 Just email me (fitnessista at gmail dot com) with your order #, shipping address, and whether you would prefer a sunscreen stick or makeup brush bag.

I’ll be honest, I don’t use a ton of facial creams and soaps. I had someone the other day ask me what my face routine was because I’m almost 40 and they said I look more like 30. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that. I haven’t heard of this brand, but would be interested in checking out a face lotion.

I’m always looking for good natural products that actually work, I have yet to find a natural deoderant and shampoo that works well for me. For nail polish have you looked at the 7-free and 5-free brands? Obviously they still use chemicals but they eliminated what was found to be the worst offenders. Brands like Zoya, Deborah Lippman, and Essie are pretty good.

I started using Native deodorant a couple months ago and have been really pleased with it. I sometimes have to reapply in the evening if we’re going out, but it performs very well for me through the day or at the gym.

I’m in the same boat with the deodorant, I developed an allergy and figure the regular ones are bad anyway. my issue is I have an allergy to aloe which 9 times out of 10 natural ones use it. I have found with natural there ok in mild heat but in the hot summer don’t work so great. I have heard people say the Native deodorant is good, so think I’m going to order one to try, if not I will look into making my own.

i also don’t like that you have to buy a full one to know if it works. i have so many random deodorants that did not work at all haha
i’ve been using the tom’s one in the blog post pic, but have to reapply especially if i went to the gym that day

Sooooo, I bought the lustro face oil per your recommendation and I loved it. However, after about a week daily use, I developed huge (the diameter of a penny) painful cystic pimples. Three of them. I NEVER get pimples. And this was he only thing in my beauty routine I changed. I’m incredibly disappointed and have no idea why my skin reacted like this as I have used other face oils in the past without a problem.

yep, they totally do! eyeshadow, lip sheer, lip gloss, mascara (everyone raves about it so i just ordered some), tinted moisturizer, tons of stuff. their stuff isn’t completely natural, but they only use safe synthetic ingredients. they try to use organic and plant-based materials whenever possible

I love Beautycounter! I’ve been using their products for 2 years and my face has never been better. I’m also a consultant (purely for the discount). The company has such a great mission, too! Glad you are spreading the word!

Ooh neat I’ve been meaning to try Beautycounter for a long time. I have heard great things!

One of my all time skin faves is SEA BUCKTHORN OIL!!! I got introduced to it through Living Libations Best Skin Ever (so amazing!) but it is quite expensive so I just pick up the Weleda pure sea buckthorn oil at Whole Foods. It’s still amazing! I also recently tried the face ritual from Bodycherish which was again quite expensive to ship from Canada but HOLY COW was it worth it. Also, clean beauty is one of my favorite topics and I’d love to see more posts about it!

Love this! I’ve been making my own body scrubs for a while now with sugar, coconut oil, and essential oils. I’m in that “contemplation” stage as far as cleaning up my skincare routine. I’m happy with how my skin looks and feels but have been really curious about cleaner products.

I love products from Emu Oil Well (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shampoo-Conditioner-Thinning-Emu-Oil/dp/B00AME9D3O) as my scalp is horribly sensitive. Their ingredient list isn’t too large and it is very gentle. Only available in the UK so I’ll have to make my own now, probably following most of their main ingredients. Tried Burts Bees as they are supposed to have “healthier” products but they still have some harsher ingredients in them. I would avoid shampooing every day to help my scalp but I have very fine hair so it just looks gross 😛

I am very sensitive to scents so I’ve been loving the products from this small company in Pittsburgh, Lovett Sundries. Their products are so simple and natural and they don’t use any scents or dyes! My favorite is the shampoo bar http://www.lovettsundries.com

I love the idea of and behind beauty counter, but as a stay at home mom, I just can’t afford it! It’s great that they are trying to make a change, but I wish a company would step up and make affordable, safe, quality products for the masses. It’s hard to actually get behind a company that is so far out of my reach.

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About Me

Hi, gorgeous! I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to The Fitnessista, a healthy lifestyle blog emphasizing quick workouts, quick recipes and adventures as a wife and mom. Though I am a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor and weight loss specialist, the information posted here is not intended to substitute the advice of a medical professional. Please check out the About page for more info. Thank you for reading! <3